. 

DISTINGVISHED 
MERICAN  APJ1STS 

OBER.T 

HIENRI 


DISTINGUISHED  AMERICAN  ARTISTS 


ROBERT  HENRI 


ROBERT  HENRI 


DISTINGUISHED 
AMERICAN  ARTISTS 


ROBERT 
HENRI 


Compiled  by 

NATHANIEL 
POUSETTE-DART 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


All  rights  reserved 


First  Printing,    September  23,    1922 
Second  Printing,   December   24,   1923 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Library 

AT) 


ROBERT  HENRI 

ROBERT    HENRI,   in   American   art,   stands   for 
what  Manet  stood  for  in  French  art,  and  what 
Goya  stood  for  in  Spanish  art.     He  is  a  strong 
character,    and   a   powerful    influence  ;   a   man   who   has 
stood  like  a  rock  for  his  ideals.     He  is  a  born  fighter  and 
he  has  always  fought  for  individuality  in  art.     He  be- 
lieves that  what  an  artist  has  to  express  is  the  vital  thing  ; 
that  technique  may  be  important,  but  that  it  should  never 
be  an  end  in  itself. 

Henri  is  a  student,  always.  His  eye  and  his  mind's 
eye  are  always  on  the  alert  for  new  discoveries.  Life 
means  evolution  to  him  ;  it  means  destruction  and  crea- 
tion. He  is  equally  attuned  to  the  delicate,  and  to  the 
brutal,  to  the  spiritual  and  to  the  material. 

Like  Bernard  Shaw,  he  faces  life  squarely.  Both  of 
these  men  love  reality,  but  they  abhor  photographic  rep- 
resentation. They  are  neither  of  them  portrait  painters 
in  the  accepted  sense  ;  rather  they  are  creators  of 
their  own  race  of  people.  A  mere  likeness  is  a  vulgar 
thing  to  them  :  they  are  after  the  quintessence  of  the  spirit. 
Sometimes  they  fail,  and  their  work  is  wooden,  but  when 
they  succeed  it  is  electrified  with  real  creative  genius. 
They  both  love  humanity,  but  they  love  their  own  people 
more. 

It  has  been  said  of  Henri  that  some  of  his  earlier  work 
shows  the  influence  of  other  artists.  This  is  true,  and  it 
shows  that  he  has  always  been  a  real,  'live,  growing  artist. 
It  is  the  great  man  who  can  utilize  knowledge  from  many 

vii 


different  sources,  selecting  from  each  that  which  he  can 
weave  into  the  fabric  of  his  own  personality.  It  is  he 
who  realizes  that  he  must  manipulate  one  existing  sub- 
stance into  ever-changing,  plastic  forms  that  will  create 
emotion. 

Henri's  style  is  simple,  and  therein  lies  its  strength. 
Nothing  is  painted  that  should  have  been  left  out.  When 
he  paints  an  eye,  he  may  use  three  brush  strokes,  or 
twenty,  but  there  is  never  any  fumbling  or  uncertainty 
so  far  as  the  end  in  view  is  concerned.  It  is  either  right 
or  wrong.  Either  he  has  failed,  and  the  result  is  mere 
paint,  or  he  has  succeeded  in  creating  a  thing  that  pulsates 
with  life.  This  shows  how  honest  the  man  is.  He  can- 
not fake,  and  he  hates  pretense. 

Perhaps  the  one  quality  that  dominates  in  his  work  is 
vitality,  a  vigor  that  is  both  intellectual  and  physical. 
One  is  never  conscious  of  any  laziness  or  indecision  in  his 
make-up.  His  jaws  are  set,  he  has  a  grip  that  tightens 
rather  than  loosens. 

Henri  paints  with  a  broad  brush ;  he  paints  the  essen- 
tials, the  things  that  count  in  art.  In  his  portrait  work 
he  is  seeking  to  eliminate  the  element  of  time,  to  achieve 
universality,  and  to  hint  the  mysteries  of  the  fourth 
dimension.  To  the  uncritical  and  superficial  his  work 
may  seem  unstudied,  but  the  reverse  is  true.  His  interest 
in  organization  is  intense,  and  each  canvas  is  worked  out 
structurally  in  a  very  careful  way. 

He  is  alive  to  what  Clive  Bell  calls  "significant  form,"  * 
that  fundamental  and  profound  quality  achieved  by  the 
early  Egyptians,  Greeks  and  Chinese. 

*  See  "Art"  by  Clive  Bell. 

viii 


His  vision  is  that  of  the  idealist.  He  is  never  unkind, 
and  he  has  a  veritable  blind  spot  for  blemishes. 

He  is  a  great  egoist,  as  every  great  creator  must  be, 
and  sees  everything  from  his  own  intensely  personal  point 
of  view.  He  reorganizes  all  the  material  for  expression 
within  his  own  inner  self,  colors  it  with  his  own  char- 
acter. It  is  always  white-hot  with  conviction. 

Robert  Henri  was  born  in  Cincinnati  in  1865.  He 
comes  of  a  family  for  many  generations  in  America,  the 
original  stock  being  French,  English  and  Irish.  At  first 
he  thought  that  writing  was  his  forte,  but  painting  soon 
became  the  stronger  attraction.  In  1886,  he  entered  the 
Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  where  he  began  his 
studies  under  Thomas  Anshutz,  one  of  the  few  great 
teachers  of  art  that  we  have  had  in  this  country.  A  few 
years  later,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  studied  under 
Fleury  and  Bougereau  at  Juliens.  The  academic  re- 
straint there,  however,  soon  proved  too  much  for  him, 
and  we  find  him  on  his  way  to  the  Louvre,  where,  to  his 
relief,  he  found  the  work  of  artists  who  impressed  him 
by  their  intense  reactions  to  life.  The  big  simplicity  of 
the  Spaniards  impressed  him.  He  experienced  a  re- 
birth ;  something  within  him  expanded  and  flowered,  and 
from  that  moment  he  knew  what  great  art  meant.  Later 
he  passed  under  the  influence  of  the  then  radical  Courbet, 
Manet  and  Whistler.  Their  influence  was,  however, 
only  temporary.  His  personality  continued  to  make  itself 
felt  until  these  other  influences  gradually  disappeared, 
and  the  character  of  Henri  emerged  supreme. 

Since  those  early  days,  he  has  always  begun  a  painting 


as  though  he  were  going  into  battle.  He  must  always 
either  win  or  lose;  there  can  be  no  middle  ground  of 
mediocre  accomplishment.  It  is  this  fearlessness  that  is 
so  attractive  in  his  work.  He  attacks  each  new  problem 
with  a  different  spirit,  and  the  result  is  a  different  tech- 
nique in  every  instance.  He  has  painted  many  children, 
but  each  one  of  them  has  been  brushed  into  life  in  a  dif- 
ferent way.  This  varied  technique  is  shown  also  in  his 
color.  Always  he  is  an  experimenter,  mixing  brains 
and  paint. 

His  portraits  of  laboring  men  are  astonishing.  One 
feels  that  he  has  fairly  cut  them  out  of  paint  with  under- 
standing and  feeling.  In  some  of  them  the  paint  seems  to 
have  been  driven  onto  the  canvas  with  terrific  force. 

His  portraits  have  an  air  of  unstudied  alertness,  be- 
cause, in  every  instance  he  has  done  his  thinking  before- 
hand. Before  he  touches  brush  to  canvas,  his  picture 
is  painted.  For  it  is  the  vision  back  of  his  eyes  that  he 
paints,  and  not  the  image  in  front  of  them.  This  par- 
ticular quality  is  very  noticeable  in  his  portraits  of  Him- 
self and  Herself.  There  is  no  seemingly  laborious  execu- 
tion, but  this  does  not  mean  that  they  have  been  done 
with  ease.  Each  canvas  is  a  new  adventure,  and  some- 
times the  peaks  are  hard  to  climb. 

As  a  teacher  of  art,  Mr.  Henri  has  few  equals.  He 
seems  to  grasp  the  possibilities  of  his  students  in  such  a  way 
that  he  is  able  to  guide  them  toward  an  expression  of 
power.  He  awakens  the  dormant  potentialities  in  each 
student,  develops  his  courage,  and  helps  him  transfer  his 
own  personality  to  canvas.  There  is  nothing  academic 

x 


about  his  teaching.  He  never  tries  to  get  his  students  to 
put  down  pretty,  senseless  lines,  or  to  draw  "correctly." 
He  teaches  control.  Each  brush-stroke  must  express  a 
ronviction,  must  be  a  valuable  link  in  the  organization  of 
his  subject.  It  must  be  dynamic,  whether  it  be  delicate 
or  strong.  He  teaches  that  to  paint  well  it  is  not  alone 
necessary  to  feel ;  one  must  also  think.  Great  art,  accord- 
ing to  Robert  Henri,  is  never  an  accident. 

N.  P-D. 


XI 


The  sixty-four  paintings   herein   reproduced  illustrate 
the  varied  characteristics  of  this  artist's  work. 


LITTLE  GIRL  OF  THE  SOUTHWEST 

Collection  of  Wilmington  Society  of  Arts,  Wilmington,  Del. 


1 


THE  GOAT  HERDER 


PORTRAIT  OF  EDWARD 


CATHARINE 

Collection  of  W.  J.  Johnson,  Esq.,  Uniontown,  Pa. 


WILLIE  GEE 

Collection  of  Corcoran  Gallery,  Washington,  D.  C. 


EVA  GREEN 


PORTRAIT  OF  MARY  FANTON  ROBERTS 

Collection  of  Mrs.    William  Carmen  Roberts,  New  York,  N.   Y. 


CAPTAIN  H.  G.  MONTGOMERY 

Collection  of  H.  G.  Montgomery,  Esq.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


THE  RED  TOP 

Collection  of  Amos  Pinchot,  Esq.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


LAUGHING  GIPSY  GIRL 

Collection  of  Mrs.  Marshall  Field,  Washington,  D.  C. 


PORTRAIT  OF  E.  WYATT  DAVIS,  ESQ. 

Collection  of  E.  JVyatt  Davis,  Esq.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


JEAN  No.  3 


DUTCH  JOE 

Collection  of  Art  Institute  of  Milwaukee,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 


CINCO  CENTIMO 

In  Private  Collection 


RUTH  ST.  DENIS  IN  THE  PEACOCK  DANCE 


HIMSELF 

Collection  of  Paul  Schulze,  Esq.,  Chicago,  111. 


HERSELF 

Collection  of  Paul  Schulzc,  Ksq.,  Chicago,  111- 


SPANISH  TANGO  DANCER 


EL  PICADOR 


GREGORITA 

In  Private  Collection 


HAWAII  AND  NAVAHO 


INDIAN  GIRL  OF  SANTA  CLARA,  N.  M. 


HELEN 


TESUQUE  BUCK 


THE  LITTLE  SPANISH  DANCER 


MARY  OF   CONNEMARA 


IMAGINATIVE  BOY 

Collection  of  Mrs.  Marshall  Field,  Washington,  D.  C. 


LITTLE  MEXICAN  GIRL  IN  BIG  HAT 


JOSE 

Collection  of  Dr.  George  Woodward,  Chestnut  Hill,  Pa. 


THE  SEGOVIA  GIRL 


AGNES 


LA  NOVIA 


CECELIA 


THE  LITTLE  ONE 


THE   SHAVE  HEAD 

Collection  of  G.  A.  Stephens,  Esq.,  Moline,  III. 


TONY 

In  Private  Collection 


PORTRAIT  OF  FAY  BAINTER 


MANUS 

Collection  of  Paul  Schulze,  Esq.,  Chicago,  III. 


PATIENCE   SERIOUS 

Collection  of  Walter  J.  Wichgar,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


FISH  MARKET  MAN 


THE  GUIDE  TO  CROAGHAN 

Collection  of  Miss  Julia  E.  Peck,  Detroit,  Mich. 


PORTRAIT  OF  "PAT"  ROBERTS 

Collection  of  Lloyd  Roberts,  Esq.,  Canada 


PORTRAIT  OF  FAYETTE  SMITH 

Collection  of  Clyde  M.  Carr,  Esq.,  Chicago,  111. 


C 

Pi 


YOUNG  WOMAN   IN  BLACK 

Collection  of  Art  Institute  of  Chicago 


THE  SPANISH  GIPSY 

Collection  of  Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Sis 

Collection  of  Miss  Julia  E.  Peck,  Detroit,  Mich. 


THE  FISHERMAN 


HEAD  OF  A  MAN 


THE  BALLET  DANCER 

Collection  of  Adolph  Lewisohn,  Esq.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


BETALO   RUBINO  —  DRAMATIC   DANCER 

Collection  of  City  Museum,   St.    Louis,  Mo. 


CHINESE  LADY 


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ROBERT   HENRI,    10   Gramercy   Park,    New   York,    N.    Y.,    born 

Cincinnati,   Ohio,    1865. 

Studied  at  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Academic  Julien  and  1'Ecole  des  Beaux 
Arts,  Paris,  1888-1891,  and  for  years  independently  in 
France,  Spain  and  Italy. 

MEMBER  OF 

SOCIETY   OF   AMERICAN    ARTISTS,    New    York,    1903 

NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF  DESIGN — Associate,   1904 

NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF  DESIGN — Academician,   1906 

NATIONAL  INSTITUTE  OF  ARTS  AND  LETTERS 

NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION   OF  PORTRAIT  PAINTERS 

NATIONAL  ARTS  CLUB — Life  Member 

TAGS  SOCIETY  OF  ARTISTS — Associate 

Los  ANGELES  MODERN  ART  SOCIETY — Honorary  Member 

PEOPLES  ART  GUILD  OF  NEW  YORK 

SCHOOL   OF  AMERICAN    RESEARCH — Board   of  Managers 

SOCIETY  OF  INDEPENDENT  ARTISTS,  New  York 

BOSTON  ART  CLUB — Honorary  Member 

NEW  SOCIETY  OF  ARTISTS,  New  York 

LEAGUE  OF  NEW  YORK  ARTISTS 

AWARDS 

Silver  Medal,  Pan   American   Exposition,   Buffalo,    1901. 

Silver  Medal,  Universal  Exposition,  St.  Louis,  1904. 

Norman   W.    Harris    Medal    and    Prize   of   $500.   Chicago    Art 

Institute,   1905. 

Gold   Medal,  Art  Club   of  Philadelphia,    1909. 
Silver     Medal,     International     Fine     Arts     Exposition,     Buenos 

Ayres,  S.  A.,  1910. 
Carol  H.  Beck  Gold  Medal,  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  the  Fine 

Arts,  Philadelphia,   1914. 

Silver  Medal,  Panama  Pacific  Exposition,  San  Francisco,   1915. 
Portrait  Prize,  Wilmington  Society  of  the  Fine  Arts,  1920. 

REPRESENTED  IN 

LUXEMBOURG  GALLERY,  PARIS   La  Neige 

CHICAGO  ART  INSTITUTE  young  Woman  in  Black 

PENNSYLVANIA  ACADEMY  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS  ....Girl  With  Fan 


CARNEGIE  INSTITUTE,  PITTSBURG Equestrian 

BROOKLYN  MUSEUM  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES.  .The  Laughing  Girl 

GALLERY  OF  SPARTANBURG,  S.  C The  Girl  With  Red  Hair 

ART  ASSOCIATION   OF  TEXAS,   DALLAS,   TEXAS, 

The  Happy  Hollander 
COLUMBUS  GALLERY  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS,  COLUMBUS,  O., 

Dancer  in  Yellow  Shawl 

ART  ASSOCIATION  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  Spanish  Gipsy  Girl 

CAROLINA  ART  ASSOCIATION,  CHARLESTON,   S.   C., 

Girl  of   Toledo,  Spain 

ART  INSTITUTE  OF  KANSAS  CITY,  Mo The  Blue  Necklace 

SAN  FRANCISCO  INSTITUTE  OF  ART  .........    Lillian 

METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM,  NEW  YORK The  Spanish  Gipsy 

NATIONAL  ARTS  CLUB,  NEW  YORK  .  .*. Romany  Girl 

MUSEUM  OF  ART  AND  ARCHEOLOGY,  SANTA  FE,  N.  M., 

The  Indian  Drummer 

MINNEAPOLIS  MUSEUM  . Fi 

BUFFALO  FINE  ARTS  GALLERY,  BUFFALO,  N.  Y Tarn  Gan 

GALLERY  OF  OBERLIN  COLLEGE,  OBERLIN,  O. .  .Spanish  Gipsy  Girl 

MEMPHIS  MUSEUM • .A chill  Girl 

DETROIT  INSTITUTE  OF  ART, 

Young  Girl,  The  Beach  Hat,  Boy  With  Plaid  Scarf 

TOLEDO  MUSEUM  OF  ART,  TOLEDO,  O The  Cathedral  Woods 

MILWAUKEE  ART  INSTITUTE Dutch  Joe 

TELFAIR  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES,  SAVANNAH,  GA., 

. .  .  .Madrilenita 

CORCORAN  GALLERY  OF  ART,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  Willie  Gee 
CITY  ART  MUSEUM,  ST.  Louis.  .Betalo  Rubino,  Dramatic  Dancer 
MUSEUM  OF  HI?TORY,  SCIENCE  AND  ART,  Los  ANGELES,  CAL., 

Pepette 
WILMINGTON  SOCIETY  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS,  WILMINGTON,  DEL., 

Little  Girl  of  the  Southwest 

BUTLER  ART  INSTITUTE,  YOUNGSTOWN,  O The  Little  Dancer 

CINCINNATI   MUSEUM • .  .Beatrice 

PUBLISHED  MATTER 

Independent    (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  June  25,   1908,   "Robert  Henri" — 

C.  W.  Barrel. 
Arts    and    Decoration     (Mag.),    N.    Y.,    April,     1912,    "Robert 

Henri" — Guy  du  Bois. 
Current  Literature   (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  April,  1912,  "Robert  Henri" 

— unsigned. 


Fine  Arts  Journal  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  July,  1912*  "Robert  Henri" 
— F.  B.  Rutterauff. 

Craftsman  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  Feb.,  1908,  "The  Younger  American 
Painters" — Edgerton. 

Craftsman  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  Jan.,  1909,  "Individuality  and  Free- 
dom in  Art" — Robert  Henri. 

Craftsman  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  May,  1910,  "The  Exhibition  of 
Independent  Artists" — Robert  Henri. 

Craftsman  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  Feb.,  1915,  "My  People" — Robert 
Henri. 

Harper's  Weekly   (Mag.),  April  13,  1907. 

House  Beautiful    (Mag.),  August,   1906,  "Robert  Henri." 

Arts  and  Decoration  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  Dec.,  1914,  "An  Ideal 
Exhibition  Scheme" — Robert  Henri. 

Arts  and  Decoration  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  Nov.,  1915,  "Who's  Who 
in  Art" — Guy  du  Bois. 

American  Magazine  of  Art,  Oct.,  1916,  "Robert  Henri" — 
Oliver  S.  Tonks. 

Touchstone  (Mag.),  N.  Y.,  June,  1919,  "Philosophy  of  a  Por- 
trait Painter" — E.  Ralph  Cheyney. 


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